The Benefits Test Case

Arpad is an international value management coach in Barcelona, Spain.

  Benefits Realization   Business Case   Quality   Strategy   Testing/Test Management  

In my recent article, I hinted on the importance of benefits testing as a pragmatic way to ensure you don’t just complete the project on scope, budget and time, but also add real value to the business. Now let me elaborate a bit more on this concept, as something that sounds so very obvious on paper is still painfully easy to miss in a real project scenario.

A project example
Your project is delivering a new mobile handheld solution for your field sales team. You built a very considerate test plan, performed stress tests and performance tests loading thousands of orders and looked at connectivity scenarios. However, the go-live date is approaching fast and now the functional user tests reveal the following issues:

1. One of the steps in the order-entry process is not linked into the workflow so cannot be accessed directly. After some follow-ups, you clarify that this was designed as an optional step. However, all sales people use it, as this helps them to achieve their bonus targets. You offer a workaround, stepping back to the main screen and accessing the function from there. It adds some time to the process, but requires no technical change, so saves both valuable time and costs.

2. The testers report that they can no longer grant credit limit extensions on site. They explain that they used to have this functionality, and this is very practical. There are …

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